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Friday, July 12, 2013

Thailand - Day 1

(Tuesday,
June 11)

I
woke up at 3:00 am to do last minute packing and gather the rest of
my belongings. We left the house in two vehicles and continued on to
meet the rest of our group from another church about ninety minutes
away. All thirteen of us piled into a van and pulled out before 5:30.
For roughly the next seven hours we drove to Chicago. Our flight from
the O'Hare airport to Tokyo departed at 1:45 pm that afternoon.
Getting through the airport went smoothly and without any setbacks,
to my relief. The last time I was on a plane was eleven years ago and
I was only six, so I remembered little about the security processes
and the general experience of flight. Thus, my level of nervousness
only increased as time went on.

The very fact that I was in an
airport was a thrill in of itself, but it was just the
beginning...and, by the end of the trip, airports would bore me.

I
did not feel truly frightened until I sat down in my seat on the
plane and buckled up. It was then that my emotions started to hit me,
and I realized what was happening. My mind began to question the
logic of it all. I felt nauseous and light-headed during the takeoff,
but a short nap relieved most of my anxiety. Our flight took us up
through Canada, above Alaska and Mt. McKinley, and down to Japan in
the span of twelve hours.

We
got off our flight at 4:00 pm Tokyo time. The realization that for
the first time in my entire life I was a foreigner took away a lot of
my appetite, both out of the excitement and the shock. We had
enough time in the airport to walk around, stretch our legs, and grab
a coffee or water before we boarded our six-hour flight to Bangkok.
We were some of the only Americans on the plane, it soon occurred to
me. Food served on the plane was all Japanese, unlike the previous
flight where we were served pizza and ham sandwiches. I was not gull
enough to try everything. I watched “Oz: The Great and Powerful”,
which I really enjoyed. When we finally landed in Bangkok at around
10:30 PM, I traded in $150 of my $350 for baht, the Thai currency (30
baht is the rough equivalent of 1 US dollar).

Only
in the shuttle, watching the Bangkok metropolis go by did it really
start to sink in for me. Here I was, literally on the other side of
the world (the time difference between Thailand and US Central Time
is exactly twelve hours!), and it doesn't look that much different
from Chicago or Minneapolis or Duluth at all...I mean, other than the
fact that everything was in Thai. Every now and then I caught a small
glimpse of western culture, mostly a 7-Eleven or McDonalds, but they
were grossly overshadowed by Thai signs, logos, and buildings. I
finally saw it with my own eyes but I was only filled with more
questions and few answers to my earlier questions.

By
the time we checked in at our hotel it was well past midnight. It was
a small cheap place in the less expensive but better part of
town. The wallpaper in our hotel room was chipped noticeably, the
carpet old and hardened, stains and cracks riddled the bathroom
mirror and walls, and there was not even an alarm clock. Just a small television and a refrigerator I took a
cold shower, unpacked, and went to bed immediately. Technically
speaking I was only awake for a full day minus small naps on the
flights. But it felt more like I had been awake for a whole week. We
would fly to Chiang Mai in the morning and continue on to Khunyuam. I
very much looked forward to it all.

2 comments:

Looks great! :) The hotels I've been in (at least in Thailand) doesn't have cracked wallpapers and stuff.. huh, I haven't been to a lot of hotels in Bangkok since my house is here. May I ask where in Bangkok? I live in Lak Si :P

Thailand is a pretty poor place mostly, but I've seen worse. When I went for a hike in the Himalayas, the hotels don't have electricity and the water was freezing- and the place was high up in the mountains, where there is snow even in this time of the year. Not only was the water freezing, but there were worms coming out of the tap when we bathe. *Shudders* That's not the most unsanitary thing either, but I don't wanna talk about it anymore than you'd wanna hear about it :P Keep in mind it was the best place there we can stay too. I can only imagine how the poor people we visited lived there.

Wow--I really enjoyed reading the story of your trip to Thailand. I myself haven't been on a plane since I was a baby; it must have been fun to take such a long plane ride!:) And being surrounded by non-English signs, papers, books, etc. must be such a fascinating experience.

Cold showers....brrr...I hate them! The fact that Bangkok doesn't look much different from many US metropolises save for the language difference was kind of a surprise to me...but then capital cities are usually pretty modern and heavily populated no matter where in the world you go. And apparently there are McDonalds all over the world.

I'm really enjoying your Thailand series of posts; it is so much fun to read all about your experiences from your point of view; thank you for sharing your story!